


sanctuary...

by beemblebummed



Category: FF7, FFVII, Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Everyone is Queer, Genderqueer Character, Genderqueer Vincent Valentine, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Vincent Valentine, Other, Trans Cloud Strife, Trans Male Character, p much all of the characters have a moment to talk/interact with one another
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-31 14:50:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8582578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemblebummed/pseuds/beemblebummed
Summary: Cloud and co. get hurt and Vincent opts to take on the Galian Beast's form to fight back. at the end of the rather terrible battle, the Galian limps away with an incapacitated Cloud in its claws, the weather worsening around them and forcing them to seek shelter while they wait for their team to find them.





	1. ... for the monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> my first Strifentine fic, holla
> 
> triggers/squicks  
> \- mentions of blood & violence, but no graphic or detailed descriptions  
> \- light swearing

He hadn’t been paying attention. Damn it all, why didn’t he just look up from what he was doing for long enough to spot the big fucker barreling straight for him? That would have saved everyone a lot of grief and trouble. There wouldn’t be blood leaking from various wounds, or any nasty-tasting monster goo stuck between the teeth of the giant purple beast currently heaving a small man towards an overhanging.

The rain had no pity for this pair, coming down hard and thick, pelting the matted, violet coat of fur on the beastly savior. Still, the creature holds tight to the blonde man in their arms, carrying him to the small cluster of rocks and boulders, hiding himself and the man beneath the most protective one. There isn’t much room there for the two of them to fit, but it will work until it’s safe and the two of them aren’t bleeding themselves to death by exerting more energy than wise.

Soft, wolf-like crimson eyes peer out into the virtually visible surroundings, masked by the thick sheets of rain, annoyance flashing in them when it becomes very clear that the odds of being found right now are slim. At least Cloud won’t die of his injuries, the Galian thinks to himself, though he snorts loudly, expelling a small cloud of breath that only re-iterates how cold it is. Upon such a remembrance, those same crimson eyes turn to the body lying on the ground to the side, propped against the wall of the overhanging– still unconscious.

Fangs bare in a deepened annoyance, only due to the fact that he has no company now, and more importantly, no way to tell how well his comrade is doing. He huffs again and then slowly, very carefully, he lay over, and begins to curl himself around Cloud’s body, almost like a dog trying to cuddle with its human. It doesn’t even occur to the Galian that, in this instance, he very well looks like an overgrown purple dog, curled around Cloud like a puppy searching for warmth and love.

Maybe the Galian fell asleep during the time between lying down and Cloud’s awakening, but he did not know for sure. He awakens now, only due to aforementioned blonde gently stroking the blood-soaked patch of hair-like fur on the back of his neck all the way down to between his muscular shoulder blades. It’s comforting, and it’s a softness he’s only ever received from Cloud and Aerith, as far as he can recall. Vincent gets more of that affection. The Galian can understand that– Vincent’s less menacing to the humans that know them.

“You saved me, huh?” Cloud murmurs, continuing the gentle strokes. “Vincent talks about how it’s not always themself when these forms come out. I’ve always thought you guys were really separated, but still… the same. In little ways.”

The Galian snorts and shakes his head, though not disrupting Cloud’s hand. He glances up at the human, blinking before closing red eyes again. Of course, the most verbal Galian can be is a hoarse roar– so it’s not like he can say much of anything in response to Cloud’s words. Often, he would very much like to. Cloud seems like a nice person; even a demonic, scientific experiment-induced secondary monster form can assess that much. But even if Vincent were to recall these conversations, one-sided as they may be, after reverting to a human body, the red-caped old fool would never want to face such emotional things.

Maybe that’s why Cloud says the things that he does when he’s speaking to the Galian, or the Hellmasker, or the Death Gigas. They all often ignore the words spoken to them, or can’t respond. Cloud was a little shit in that way.

Cloud’s hand slowly comes to a stop and he coughs, raising the opposite hand to cover his mouth as the rather painful sounding noise leaves him. The Galian lifts his head, peering at his human friend with a hint of concern in his eyes, blinking as Cloud continues to struggle with that cough. Eventually he goes rather red in the face and as his chest heaves with effort, he lies back against the purple beast curled around him.

“D-don’t suppose y-you…. h-have any Cure materia on you?” he wheezes, bluish eyes closing for a moment. “Damn…”

He utters another low snort, tossing his head before gently tapping Cloud’s chest with a wet black nose. Cloud winces, but a smile shows on his face again.

“Y-yeah… I think Tifa and Nan… were holding those,” the blonde says, looking at the Galian with a tired, hurting smile. “Gaea… Galian, I don’t think I’m… gonna do too well at staying up. I, uh, think I’ll be okay, but…”

A very cross look comes to his face, parting his lips to lightly take the fabric of Cloud’s top between large fangs, and then tug just a very little bit. The human laughs quietly, shaking his head and then starting to pet the Galian’s snout now, and though his hand shakes and his body entirely hurts too much, he continues those movements, insistent on providing comfort for the monster.

“It’s okay,” Cloud says again, smiling still. “Just– just make sure when Vincent’s back, they don’t freak out. Give them that chill you have, yeah?”

The Galian drops Cloud’s shirt, but he doesn’t seem to be very happy still. He butts his forehead softly into the blonde’s chest, rubbing a fraction, much like a feline. Cloud can’t decide if the Galian strikes him more as a cat or a dog, but either way, he likes the company. Even if he likes spending time with the beasts– as silly as that may sound initially– he never likes spending time with any of them in tense situations.

Really, it feels as though he has to be bleeding out or dying to be graced by the company of Vincent’s other pieces. He just wishes it didn’t Vincent the way it did to take these forms, or to take twice as much of an ordeal to revert back. Usually if the Galian or any other form is able to find a place of calmness and rest, they can revert, and Vincent comes back as themself, albeit a bit more tired than before.

Cloud just really wishes someone could find them right now. He loves the company of the Galian, but without offense intended, he preferred the rescuers who would bring at least some ease to his pain.

“Why don’t we just… go to sleep until they find us?” the blonde suggests, his voice slowly getting weaker. “We can… wait out the.. rain and then we…. we’ll……”

Alas, as much as he wanted to stay conscious Cloud drifts from such a state into a deep unconsciousness, lying heavily against the Galian’s beast’s body with a low exhale, eyes closing as he relaxes. The beast becomes quite a bit more nervous about the well-being of Vincent’s partner, but all he can do at the moment is bring the human closer, and keep him close. Warmth is about all he can offer right now, but by Gaea, he’ll offer every bit he has to keep the damn fool alive.

It’s hard enough to shoulder the emotions Vincent Valentine holds within themself, from the guilt about Lucrecia Crescent to the ever continuing grieving of Aerith Gainsborough– and that’s without the added pain that Cloud’s death on their watch would bring.

So the Galian Beast simply huffs, and then slowly lays his head down upon Cloud’s lap, curling himself up even more if such a thing is still possible, intending to keep this little human alive and warm throughout the unknown amount of time they would be apart from the help and care of friends and medicine.

He has faith in this little human. He’s seen Cloud do much more than survive a few surprise attack cuts through the night. He’ll be fine, the Galian is sure of it. If not for his own faith in Cloud, the faith stemming straight from Vincent’s consciousness is enough to at least encourage Galian to keep that hope up.

And hey, at least the poor bastard won’t die at Vincent’s own hand, like they always worry about, right?


	2. ... for the lovers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud and Vincent are located by their friends, and put on the path to recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> triggers/squicks  
> \- implied violence  
> \- light swearing  
> \- nothing else that i can think of!

Neither of the two entirely discombobulated fellows know how long it is from the time that both of them pass out to when their friends finally come for them. By then, the Galian has already reverted, finding rest at last curled around his tiny human, until he eventually shrank once again into the somewhat smaller being Vincent. When they both come to, Vincent is still curled around Cloud, clinging to him protectively, their face nuzzled softly into the man’s neck.

It surprises Cloud just a small bit, but the providing of warmth and the presence of another living thing, someone trusted, makes the surprise a good kind. He can barely tell what’s going on around him otherwise, but he knows by the arm over his side, the black-gloved human hand that hovers just over his stomach as opposed to big claws, that it’s Vincent now that lay behind his body. It will take a moment to be able to assess anything else, but before he can even move onto the state of the weather, a very distinct sound cuts through the air.

Other voices?

He forces his eyes to open, blinking through dried blood over his eye lids to peer out into the surrounding area. No rain falls now, but Cloud still can’t make out anything besides distant shapes. How many is that? It’s a couple– so maybe it is their friends, and maybe that sound is their voices. He attempts to move just enough to stir Vincent’s body, not enough to hurt himself or his friend, in an attempt to wake up the one who actually has fully functional senses at the moment.

“Nhm…” The sound of someone who does not want to be awoken.

“V… Vincent,” Cloud persists anyway, trying to shift the other once more.

This time it proves more effective, with Vincent picking their head up altogether, looking around through half closed eyes. They blink and then turn their gaze down to Cloud, noticing first that the man is awake, and then second that their hand is still draped over him.

“Ah,” they mutter softly, sitting up and carefully taking that arm back without hitting Cloud on the way up, “I apologize.”

The blonde scoffs softly, shaking his head just a bit before relaxing once again into the ground. It hurts and he’s anything but comfortable, but he’s too damn sore to do anything.

“That’s not why I woke you up,” he says, his voice hoarse. “Someone’s coming I think.”

Immediately, Vincent is on high alert, climbing to their feet before stalking outside of the protection of the overhanging. Cloud can only watch them go through a fuzzy vision, hoping that if the people, or dare he say it, things, approaching are not too much for Vincent to handle. He’s trying to stay positive, as pained and helpless as he is. Vincent was always stronger, after all, so even in the event that the approaching beings are unfriendly, his red-caped friend will most definitely be able to handle them.

It doesn’t take long for Vincent to return in a hurry with Tifa and Barret by their side, the relief in Cloud’s face clear as he’s hoisted up into the woman’s arms. It all happens so fast, all of it later to be a blur in Cloud’s mind, only the frantic tone of voices heard through the static, the hushed words of promise from Tifa that both he and Vincent will be quite all right. It’s a comfort then and the words are clear as can be to Cloud, but later, upon awakening in a hospital bed somewhere– maybe the Highwind?– he doesn’t know at all what had happened past him waking up Vincent.

The ceiling is where his eyes first open upon, blinking through the tired haze that hangs over him and prevents him from really wanting to get up and stay up. That may be a sedative, but he doesn’t know for sure. He can’t exactly ask either, his throat hurting far too much to even think about doing that just yet. Hopefully, he thinks to himself, that will all be done and over with in the next couple of hours or days; whichever happens first will not be soon enough for the blonde.

“Cloud? Are you awake?”

At the sound of his name, his eyes groggily drift over to where he believes it’s coming from. He meets the brown eyes of Tifa, standing alongside an annoyed looking Barret.

“Ya damn moron,” the big man grumbles as Tifa makes her way to the bedside. “Th’ hell you thinkin’, almost dyin’ out there?”

A hint of a smile touches Cloud’s lips, but he does not respond. His attention moves once again, focusing now specifically on Tifa and that sweet smile she always gives him when something bad has happened. In this case, it’s actually his own fault and it’s himself the bad has happened upon, but the smile helps either way for this, arguably the worst injury Cloud has received.

Well, the worst injury he’s ever received that he had to be awake through.

Tifa wishes for nothing more but to hold Cloud’s hand between hers, to comfort him with a light squeeze and a quick kiss to his knuckles. But alas, in this situation, that may only agitate already aching wounds, and doing such a thing may only upset Cloud rather than cheer him up.

“Vincent is all right,” the woman says softly, reaching up to gently push aside a bit of hair that had fallen into Cloud’s face. “They didn’t get as banged up as you, so their recovery won’t really take as long. So don’t worry about that, all right?”

Ever so slightly, Cloud manages to nod, and then closes his eyes afterwards. At least there was something good to come out of the pair of them being bedridden. Part of Cloud hopes that Vincent most definitely is confined to a bed for recovery, and kept that way so the idiot won’t make matters worse or get to rub the fact that he’s up and about into Cloud’s face.

“Teef,” Barret calls from the doorway, “we need t’ go let th’ others know about Spiky. You ready t’ go?”

Tifa rolls her eyes with a soft “damn you, Barret Wallace” before leaning down over Cloud, very, very carefully pressing a small kiss to his temple, avoiding the injuries that she sees. Apparently she does well enough, for the only reaction out of Cloud is a pretty happy, satisfied hum. It brings an amused smile to Tifa’s face as she leans away, unable to help fussing over Cloud’s hair a second time, pushing some behind his ear and brushing some over to the back the best that she can.

“We’ll be back soon, ‘kay?” the woman murmurs to Cloud as she moves to join Barret again.

Of course, Cloud does not respond to Tifa’s promise, but he acknowledges it. As the room grows quiet and empty again, the blonde finds himself seeking it to be just the opposite, for Tifa and Barret and Nanaki and everyone else to see him and talk to him and generally keep him out of the hands of loneliness. Maybe that’s just the exhaustion talking, he thinks to himself before trying to relax and let himself sleep a little longer. Sleeping and resting helps with recovery, so hopefully he can just take a couple of naps and then be better in no time. Being stuck in a bed sucks.

He won’t be awake for it later, but the empty room becomes inhabited again by most of Cloud’s comrades. Yuffie carefully sits herself at the foot of the blonde’s bed, resting her back against the bed rail and crossing her legs into a pretzel. Barret stands in one corner with Cid, the two of them discussing a great deal of things, swearing and raising their voices the whole time– but Tifa reminds them to hush every now and again, when she thinks it’s too much. She herself idles by Vincent’s side, the two of them rarely actually talking at all, too busy worrying silently over Cloud’s well-being.

When Nanaki, Shelke, and Reeve join the group, Cloud is gradually beginning to come to, and that’s when at last, Cid and Barret lower their voices to an inside level. While the latter two of the newest arrivals join Vincent and Tifa, Nan softly hops into the bed with Yuffie, lying down at her side and setting his chin upon her leg. She smiles and simply pets his hair, not skipping out on scratching him behind the ears also.

They’re all watching apprehensively as Cloud stirs just a bit, the time it takes for him to start opening his eyes again feeling like an eternity to nearly everyone in the room. Finally, he’s aware of everything going on, the fact that the room is full now, and though it still takes a moment, he smiles just a little.

Tifa moves first, going to one side of the bed to stand by Cloud, and she is shortly followed by Vincent and Reeve. While Shelke is more comfortable with everyone nowadays, she does tend to stick with Vincent the most. In many cases and situations, they are the safest point for the girl.

“You’re finally awake,” Reeve says with a small smile. “It’s good to see you’re alive, Cloud.”

The blonde returns the smile and mutters a weak, ‘good to see you, too’ before focusing his attention on Vincent and their face, the couple of bruises upon pale cheeks only now being noticed by the bedridden man. He blinks, staring at them for a good few seconds, then frowns deeply.

“You’re.. you’re up,” Cloud whispers, his voice hoarse but not as bad as it was before.

Vincent just nods. “My injuries were not nearly severe as yours. I will heal much faster than you, Cloud.”

Before Cloud can reply to that, from the foot of the bed Yuffie frowns as well and then crosses her arms, raising a brow. “The two of ya punks shouldn’t have stayed so far away from everybody else anyhow– that was a lame decision made by two lame guys.”

Nanaki flicks his ears and blinks, inclining his head slightly. “While I agree with Yuffie, I think we should all just be relieved that you’re both safe.”

“Pft! I didn’t say I wasn’t relieved!” the dark haired teen exclaims. “I’m just pissed, too!”

“Regardless,” Tifa cuts in gently, “we do need to let the both of you recover with no bumps in the road. Cloud will stay in bed for a few days, and Vincent, you aren’t doing anything strenuous for the same amount of time.”

The smallest hint of satisfaction can be seen momentarily on Cloud’s face, and then he quickly hides it, just observing with no comment now.

Vincent turns their head to look at Tifa, eyes narrowed, a look of annoyance upon their features. “Tifa, I’ll be fine, and I can still help with missions and the like. I don’t need to be given special treatment– I’m very much all right, and I can continue my usual activities just as I have been.”

Barret and Cid join the group at the bed, taking their own places on the opposite side of the piece of furniture. The bigger man’s arms cross over a thick chest, brown eyes focusing on Vincent.

“You best list’n t’ Mom,” he states in reference to Tifa, nodding solemnly. “She’ll kick your ass from here t’ Mideel ‘n back with a smile on her face while she does it.”

Cid nods as well. “Yer punk ass is jus’ gonna have to dial back. You know her word is law.”

The woman is very clearly pleased with the support she's getting from the other guys, but she does her best to keep that smug grin off her face for the sake of a civil conversation. She doesn't want to control any of her friends, but she knows Vincent will push themself and not let their body recover appropriately. She doesn't want to see that happen.

There is a silence now, after the two men add their statements, and then they all wait. Vincent is contemplating their options, wondering how much grievance will be saved if they simply... yield to these demands. A few days to rest could be beneficial, now that they ponder it. They could maybe sit still and talk with Shelke and Reeve, spend time with Cloud....

Maybe giving in would be better than they originally thought.

“... Very well,” they say quietly, glancing down.

Tifa smiles now, nodding her head before gently patting Vincent's back. “Come on, it's not that bad. Please don't be mad at me?”

That voice would win Vincent over anytime, those pretty brown eyes pleading, that smile convincing them the extra mile to give Tifa virtually anything she wanted if she played those cards. Vincent had a good poker face, but they always broke with Tifa.

A shake of their head, and Vincent hums. “Don't worry about it, Teef.”

With all parties now mostly satisfied, it was time for a few solid days of nothing but rest and recovery. However, Tifa would not win one particular battle in which Vincent spends the majority of their time in their own quarters for this, and she does not detest it very much at all; she was pretty sure that anyone would be quite understanding that Vincent would want to share Cloud's bed, and spend the next stretch of time with their partner.

Cloud was definitely understanding, and considerably warmer with Vincent lying beside him.


End file.
